Things you've never done with a Tamiya

[Saito2 6675]

Sometimes we see others do/try things with an RC that we might fancy trying but never do. Sometimes we get interesting ideas or just plain bad ideas but never carry them out for better or worse. Here's a few random ones I have.

1. Use a stock SRB chassis. I've never done it. With two weighty hunks of diecast on either end of a flexy fiberglass noodle, I never got the courage to run one without a stiffer custom chassis. All I envision with the stocker is broken bodies and radio crates.

2. Use an SRB at the beach. I just can't bring myself to do it even after building one just for that purpose. I always chicken out and take a Lunch Box instead.

3. Jump my Super Champ off a cliff like the Tamiya promo. Whether its at the beach or not, I can't believe that Super Champ didn't shatter after dropping that far. If I tried it, I'd be sweeping up the pieces.

4. float a Clod Buster on water. I know this can be done. 12 yr old me probably would have tried it. Old me wouldn't. Maybe I need an MRP High Roller...

5. Actively destroy a Tamiya. RC Car Action did a torture test on a Hornet waaaay back in the day.  It survived. They probably didn't know they were forecasting a future where the "hold my beer and watch this" crowd would be doing things like this with Traxxas vehicles. I just can't bring myself to be abusive to my Tamiya vehicles.

How about you?

[Problemchild 2149]

I thought this was going to be some kind of “coming out” thread 😮

in the uk I can’t find big open tarmac spaces with no cars and no traffic like I see in all these YouTube vids - so I guess I never.....

opened up my 3s lipo brushless neo scorcher to max chat

 

JJ

[wolfdogstinkus 1893]

I'm in the process of a perpetual groundhog Day of breaking my 8 year olds lunchbox and fixing it again.

Got it almost ready but still got to glue the tyres. 

I'll just "*test" it at 12.30am on a work night, on a football pitch, great idea. 

Oh you've come back minus a tyre?  And the mini "Chuck Norris that follows me around didn't see where it went,?. 

 

So after about another hour hunting around I find the tyre and crawl back home. 

Of course I HAD to *test it before my boy drives it. I'm not playing with it, just testing it for my boy.

Then there was the other time when it came back minus the phone that was on the roof to measure top speed. 

That won't happen again. The phone will go inside now and even has the bumper to stabilise the shock on the Earth's core when it bounces down the street at 35mph. Lol 

 

* Mini Chuck Norris gets scared when I work on the lunchbox as he is worried it maybe more powerful than he is.

 

Edit to add, I don't think I have "tested" my boys lunchbox on 3s yet without some minor incident, even if that's just mini Chuck Norris needing a towel.

It's working great on 2s at the moment but 3s is melting servos so I guess the ESC doesn't have bec.

[markbt73 5311]

Honestly, any foolish driving-related things I wanted to try, I tried, ages ago, usually with less disastrous results than I imagined. It seems like if I break something, it's when I don't expect to, doing something that doesn't seem that rough. These days, I'm much nicer to my cars...

I was looking through some PDFs  of old RCCA issues a while back, and thinking how much fun it would be to re-create some of their cool Tamiya-based projects. Particularly, the plywood-chassis Hornet-based stock car, and the 6-wheeled Blackfoot. Might have to try one (or both?).

[Wooders28 4718]

42 minutes ago, Problemchild said:

in the uk I can’t find big open tarmac spaces with no cars and no traffic like I see in all these YouTube vids - so I guess I never.....

I've done all my speed runs at 7am on a Sunday morning...😏

Never swapped a nitro to electric or visa versa.

Bought or built one and thought, that's just going to sit on the shelf. 

And after encroaching on almost 40yrs, got bored! 😁

 

 

 

[wolfdogstinkus 1893]

Sunday evening or early morning shopping centre car parks are normally good for speed runs in the UK.

[Pablo68 1049]

I've never felt the need or want, even slightly, to own or run a Clodbuster.

I know right, I'm sorry, I just don't. Sacrilege to many in here I'm sure.
 

[c64orinoco 667]

3 hours ago, wolfdogstinkus said:

Sunday evening or early morning shopping centre car parks are normally good for speed runs in the UK.

I've thought of that here in Sydney, but I suspect the Fun Police would be on you in a flash. This city has really embraced the 24-7 security force state.

That said, anyone tried that super-center out at Marsden Park where the Ikea is? That looks promising except trucks might be an issue.

A mate and I might have found a decent spot that is some abandoned tennis courts; they only problem is that they are astroturf coated with sand. That's ok for buggies but might be a bit abrasive for M07s. Secret for now in case some council busybody turns up and calls the Fun Police.

As for things I'd never do: any really destructive activity, like driving into water or high jumps. I'm not into conspicous consumption, which is what most of the Youtube destruction videos seem to be. The worst I've done lately was my first drive of the TT02B at the old St.Ives track; the car couldn't quite get enough speed in the run to the ramp-to-ramp jump, so it nose-planted straight into the vertical ply-over-metal-frame vertical face of the ramp. Sickening thump and brand new car not so new now!  Nothing broke by the force was enough to rip the receiver and ESC off the velcro tape I had used to secure them. 

[Shodog 1835]

6 hours ago, Saito2 said:

 

2. Use an SRB at the beach. I just can't bring myself to do it even after building one just for that purpose. I always chicken out and take a Lunch Box instead.

 

The SRB is right at home on the beach.

Throwing huge rooster tails is what it does best 

The best part is when it rolls you’re less likely to break stuff in the soft sand

[t3garett 268]

That looks like a whole lot of fun !

[wolfdogstinkus 1893]

5 hours ago, Pablo68 said:

I've never felt the need or want, even slightly, to own or run a Clodbuster.

I know right, I'm sorry, I just don't. Sacrilege to many in here I'm sure.
 

Tamiya legend says that the clodbuster is so big it has its own gravitational pull and that one tyre weighs the same as 3 planets.

Also the Clodbuster was the only thing that Chuck Norris is scared of, until I started working on my boys lunchbox.

Now he shakes with fear every time I look at a 3s lipo and when I go to the park at night, I have to bring a towel to mop his brow before each run.

[Hobgoblin 1059]

8 hours ago, markbt73 said:

I was looking through some PDFs  of old RCCA issues a while back, and thinking how much fun it would be to re-create some of their cool Tamiya-based projects. Particularly, the plywood-chassis Hornet-based stock car, and the 6-wheeled Blackfoot. Might have to try one (or both?).

I'd love to know more about both of those projects! 

[pourMoneyIntoSea 55]

2 hours ago, Shodog said:

The SRB is right at home on the beach.

Throwing huge rooster tails is what it does best 

The best part is when it rolls you’re less likely to break stuff in the soft sand

beautiful car. beautiful pics.

[Saito2 6675]

1 hour ago, Hobgoblin said:

I'd love to know more about both of those projects! 

There was an RCCA contributor that frequently made wood chassis cars. I remember the Hornet, but he also made one for the Brat too. The "Behemoth" six wheeled Blackfoot was made by by one of my favorite contributors, Bill O'Brien. The chassis was home made IIRC and a template was included in the article. To this chassis, Hot Trick parts were used to attach the two gearboxes and front suspension. That body is a stretched stock Blackfoot piece with a homemade roll bar and a front bumper/ram made from a discarded curtain rod. It also had Imex puller tires and a mix of Kyosho red and gold shocks. Its probably the first 6 wheeler I saw in RC form. The truck was later dismantled for another project which involved going back to 4 wheels but adding Clod sized tires and a gun mounted on the bed (!). 

[Mad Ax 9295]

I've never been into wanton destruction.  A friend of mine had a Baja Champ purely for the purpose of destruction.  He called it his Thing of Hate and he literally loved to race it at the scenery as hard as he could.  He had loads of other Tamiyas that he treated with respect, but the Thing of Hate was given the destruction treatment at every bash, and we never broke it.

I've never been happy with a finished project.  Actually that might be about to change, because I finished detailing Fifty Fifty last night and it looks absolutely fantastic, but time will tell if it runs as good as it looks.  I suppose I'm a bit of a perfectionist and also not particularly talented, skilled or patient, so a finished project is a quadruple whammy of disappointment.  I never quite understand why it is but other people's cars always look, feel and drive so much better than mine.  I'm starting to think it's all psychological.

I've never driven an RC F1.  I've had a go at most things but F1 and pan cars have always eluded me.  From time to time I consider getting a re-re F103 to race at the Iconic Cup.  I passed up on Tamico's superb offer on the Ferrari 312TB (although it is still seriously cheap even without the offer price).  I'm not really very good at racing though, so I doubt I'd do very well at F1.  It seems like you have to be really good to control them.

I've never been entirely happy with any event format.  The most fun I've ever had has been at open bashes.  Iconic's Broxtowe meets were good because we have both tarmac and astro tracks available.  No timing, no racing, no heats, just switch on and run as much or as little as you want.  The closest we got to 'organised' was a wheelie race at lunchtime, if you can describe 30+ poorly-handling mini-monsters clattering around a tarmac track as "organised".  Racing is OK but I'm really not that good at it, and the whole race, marshal, recharge, repair, repeat cycle gets tiring, especially on a two-day event and especially when there's two nights of drinking and camping involved.  TBH I'd rather a two-day open bash with maybe set times for certain vehicle types.  I enjoy the big rig meets but these days I spend more time hanging around chatting and eating kebabs than I do actually driving the rigs.  I'm hoping that building a tipper will mean I get more involved with the digger / construction guys, it'll be more involving than just driving around in circles, and getting my Beier systems properly running with remote trailer legs etc will add more to the fun of driving and shifting trailers without having to get manually involved.  But I wish the layouts could be bigger and less crowded.  I tend to always drive clockwise because the anticlockwise corners are too tight to get a rig and trailer around.  I thought I would love drifting, but although I love the scene, I somehow thought I would be better at it.  I know it's probably my lack of experience over anything else, but the other guys make their cars look like they're moving exactly where they want them to go, even fully sideways, whereas I tend to feel like I'm along for the ride.  It's a shame I can't get to a drift club more often because I'd get better with practice.

I've never done monster truck racing.  OK, I've entered a "monster truck race" and even come away with the 1st place trophy, but really it was just two dozen vintage Tamiyas bazzing around a buggy circuit during a lunchbreak and I was the only one taking it seriously enough to complete laps.  Watching vids on Youtube yesterday made me realise how much I want to do proper MT racing.  But I guess even then I'd probably get bored with the same quick-fire format after a few rounds, especially when I find I'm not as good as I think I deserve to be and my budget-build Mod Clod is nowhere near capable enough to stay on track, let alone challenge for a round win.

I've never broken anything serious in a crash where I think "oh darn, that's going to break something serious."  I've had some fairly innocuous little prangs that have resulted in an entire corner being ripped off a car, I've had the usual flips that have broken off body parts or posts, and I've had 3D printed resin parts shatter like glass after impacting a rock, but I've had some seriously big crashes that have ended with relatively little damage.  Even an E-maxx at full pelt due to a radio glitch didn't injure me or my Dark Impact - it just put a small crack in the carbon shock tower.  I had a brushless Hotshot go off the track at Broxtowe and head-first into a concrete wall.  It popped a steering balljoint and bent a track rod but did no permanent damage.  I was utterly amazed.  When I was a child even the tiniest little impact would usually have me ordering parts from Japan on a 6 week lead time, which usually happened on day 1 of the 6-week summer holidays.

There's probably a whole bunch of other things I haven't done, but since I can't prove a negative I can't find out what they are.  I'll update later if I think of any.

 

[Shodog 1835]

One thing I would never do with any of my Tamiya’s is install a legendary Conrad 240826 in them.

 

This one stays safely locked in the box. 

[wolfdogstinkus 1893]

There is a member here( sorry, can't remember who) has 3 or 4 of those motors and fitted 2 in a clod. !!!!

But as they spin in opposite directions, the effects on the Earth's magnetic field should be minimal. 

But as Shodog says, extreme care must be exercised when fitting a Conrad motor.

[Mad Ax 9295]

legend has it, Chuck Norris doesn't play with RC cars.  But if he did, they would be fitted with Conrad 240826 motors.

[Biz73 603]

I will agree with Shodog, SRB's are killer on the beach. I built a Sand Scorcher(with aluminum chassis) and a DT-02 Holiday Buggy. I took them down to the beach and they Scorcher was WAY better because it never diffed out. The DT-02 with sand paddle tires would get stuck constantly. The Scorcher never did. Even though the beach is only a 10 min walk(maybe) it was the only time I ever ran on the beach. I just sold my Scorcher a month ago, but I still remember how surprised I was with it's performance.

 

I've never built an SRB with a stock chassis

I've never built a shelf queen

I've never done a perfect job on an RC body. It used to bother me, but then I realized that I wouldn't want to drive a perfect one. Now I'm happy that all of my cars can be run guilt free.

[TwistedxSlayer 1290]

Ive never thought... that's it the model is 100% complete and 'wow that hop up looks totally out of place'

[markbt73 5311]

9 hours ago, Mad Ax said:

I've never broken anything serious in a crash where I think "oh darn, that's going to break something serious."  I've had some fairly innocuous little prangs that have resulted in an entire corner being ripped off a car, I've had the usual flips that have broken off body parts or posts, and I've had 3D printed resin parts shatter like glass after impacting a rock, but I've had some seriously big crashes that have ended with relatively little damage.

 

Funny how that works, isn't it? 30 mph cartwheel along the asphalt, ending in a long skid on the roof... only scratches. Bounce off a rock just wrong... broken knuckle and stripped servo gears. Just weird luck, I guess. Or the bad-looking crashes actually put less stress on parts than a small sudden jolt does.

I've never understood the wanton destruction either. But I've seen some "demolition derby" races with bodies made from thin aluminum, so they crumple up when hit. That looks like it could be fun.

[mongoose1983 3335]

I often think how I used to run my Midnight Pumpking back when the 90's decade was just starting... Oh, I loved that thing to death, but the way I ran it was just crazy! Now that I have got Tamiya cars that were just dreams back then it is extremely hard for me to get them out in the dirt. The thought of breaking some piece has a sacrilege feel to me. Not sure if this is sane at all, but wrong or right that is how I feel about the subject. Oh, and also that's the reason why I mostly run a Wheely King nowadays.

[wolfdogstinkus 1893]

I must add that I never meant to damage the lunchbox during "testing". 

But I have to put it through the paces because my 8 year old is a great driver so he doesn't "test" it as thoroughly as I do. 

And I do have a new shell waiting for an 8 year old to colour and draw on. But I don't think we'll better the original design from when he was 6. 

KAPOW, SMASH, BANG BOOM.

[Saito2 6675]

1 hour ago, mongoose1983 said:

Now that I have got Tamiya cars that were just dreams back then it is extremely hard for me to get them out in the dirt. The thought of breaking some piece has a sacrilege feel to me. Not sure if this is sane at all, but wrong or right that is how I feel about the subject. Oh, and also that's the reason why I mostly run a Wheely King nowadays.

I know exactly how you feel. I have an Egress re-re that I just can't seem to get out for a run in the dirt for the reasons you listed. I'm beginning to feel the same way about my Super Astute too. The thought has recently crossed my mind that I should just sell them off as I'm torn between feeling guilty about not running them but afraid to break some piece. Nowadays, I run mostly bulletproof Tamiyas like my Lunch Box and Clod Buster or ones I have many variations and/or spares for, like my ORV monsters and Hot Shot series buggies.

 

1 hour ago, TwistedxSlayer said:

Ive never thought... that's it the model is 100% complete and 'wow that hop up looks totally out of place'

I'm starting to go the opposite direction on this. More and more I'm liking my runners to at least appear stock. I sure do remember the days of being wild about hop-ups though.

11 hours ago, Mad Ax said:

I've never driven an RC F1.  I've had a go at most things but F1 and pan cars have always eluded me.

Same here. On-road never did it for me, but I'd love to own a Road Wizard. I drove a TT02 this past summer for the first time and felt some limited by where it could go I can only imagine how much worse an F1 would be. 

[TurnipJF 9182]

A bit like a drinking game , this thread! 

These are mine...

 

I have never intentionally built a shelf queen.

At point of purchase, all my cars were intended to be runners. I have some that have never turned a wheel in anger, such as my 15th Anniversary Edition F103 and my Candy Green Edition Grasshopper, but that wasn't ever the plan, and one day when I find just the right setting in which I can run them with no risk of damage whatsoever, they will get their turn.

Others are what I think of as shelf princesses - cars that have turned a wheel in anger, but only once. My 6-wheeled Tyrrell falls into this category, as does my Black Edition Grasshopper, Jun Watanabe Edition Hornet, Pink Metallic Edition Neo Scorcher and my Hotshot. I wanted to experience the drive, but having done so successfully without damaging them, I feel reluctant to try my luck again, so like the unintentional shelf queens, they too await perfect conditions for their next outing.

I do have a good selection of intentionally never-run shelf queen shells and wheelsets though - one for each of my chassis, so that they can look good on the shelf between runs.

 

I have never felt the desire to build anything other than 1/10 scale.

My first hobby grade RC car was 1/10 scale, and so was my second, and by the time I hit my 5th they all looked so good together that I felt no desire to deviate from the scale, to the point that when I acquired a G6-01 Konghead, the stock shell stayed in the box and I built it a 1/10 scale shell to fit with the rest of the fleet.

 

I have never done a bone-stock build.

At the very minimum, all of my builds get full bearings and a steel, brass or hardened pinion, and in most cases oil shocks too, unless the stock shocks are part of what gives the car its character, as with my Grasshoppers for example. If they come with bearings and a decent pinion, I invariably find something else to upgrade. Even my 15th Anniversary Edition F103 which comes with almost every hop-up imaginable received a set of ceramic diff balls over and above the standard spec.

 

I have never regretted a Tamiya purchase.

Some cars I liked straight away, others needed a bit of development, but I have yet to come across one that I have regretted buying. All have their place, all have their charms, even though some hide them better than others.